


life happens

by RosieClark



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, but alluras alive, plangst, post cannon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 21:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21152621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieClark/pseuds/RosieClark
Summary: He reaches out to grab her arm, and forces her to look at him. “Is it Lance?”“No! No, of course not!” She had never been a good liar and Matt’s eyes narrow.“What did he do?” Matt asks, his tone grave. “I swear to god Katie, if that jerk did anything, I’ll—”“No Matt, don’t.” She pleads. “I took it too far. I crossed a line. Lance didn’t do anything.”





	life happens

**Author's Note:**

> a nice short angsty fic for yall! Nothing like writing in the present tense to make something feel more angsty am i right?

When Katie wakes up, she has a headache. A constant pounding at her temples, a dryness to her eyes, a heaviness to her tongue. She knows these are side effects from holding in her tears all night. 

She reaches her hand over to the other side of the bed,  _ his  _ side of the bed, and can’t help the sinking feeling in her stomach at the cold sheets. She wonders if he’s already gone, if he left for an early training session. Usually, he’ll leave her a note with breakfast, or at the very least a text, telling her where he went. 

But this morning, her phone is silent, and as she forces her sore limbs to take her to the kitchen, she sees the table is empty, and there is no note in sight. 

Not that she expected one. After what she said, she really didn’t deserve one. 

Still, it stung. Her fingers went to fiddle with the ring on her left finger, a habit she’d developed ever since the engagement. She smiles at the memory; he had taken her to a tiny italian restaurant near the Garrison, and had proposed through song. He always had been a hopeless romantic. 

It was going to be fine, she decides firmly. Dating couples fight all the time. She will cook a nice dinner and when he comes home, she’ll apologize profusely, hoping that he’ll give her another chance. And then… well they’d go from there. 

Everything will be fine. 

*

All over the Garrison, people give her looks of pity. She hates it. She didn’t deserve their pity. It was her fault. She had to live with the consequences. 

Hunk drops by the office with cookies, and when she asks him about Lance, he just smiles sadly at her and tells her he just needs some space. She understands, really she does, but her heart still drops to her stomach. A small part of her was hoping she would catch Lance in the halls, but she’s been stuck in her lab all day. Usually, he’ll pop by, either with lunch or a joke, or sometimes both, and distract her from getting any real work done. But today, nothing.

Matt is next, claiming he has the results from her last test. She knows its just an excuse, but she craves her brothers company, so she lets him in anyways. He hands her the manilla envelope before plunking himself down on her work table. 

“What’s going on Pidgey?” he asks casually. 

She shrugs. If she starts talking about it, she would probably cry, and she really didn’t want to cry. “It’s nothing.” 

He reaches out to grab her arm, and forces her to look at him. “Is it Lance?” 

“No! No, of course not!” She had never been a good liar and Matt’s eyes narrow. 

“What did he do?” Matt asks, his tone grave. “I swear to god Katie, if that jerk did anything, I’ll—” 

“No Matt, don’t.” She pleads. “I took it too far. I crossed a line. Lance didn’t do anything.” 

  
  
  
  


Katie spends all afternoon cooking dinner. She got the recipe from Lance’s mother when she’d first met her, but has never used it. The table is set, candles are lit, music is playing softly. The tamales smell divine and she sits to wait for him to come home. 

She is nervous, not knowing what to say when he does walk through the door. First, she’ll apologize, hoping that he can forgive her. Then if he can, they’ll have a nice meal, followed by some video games. A perfect way to spend the evening. 

She plays with her engagement ring, her feet tapping anxiously on the floor. Any minute now, he’ll walk through that door, and she’ll get the chance to make things right. 

Any minute now. 

The food gets cold, the candles dim, and Katie slowly starts to clean up. 

She debates calling him, just to make sure he’s alright, but decides against it. He probably just wants space, just like Hunk said. She was a fool to think he could forgive her in one day. 

Instead she messages Keith, asking him if Lance is with him. He responds quickly, saying that she shouldn’t worry, and that Lance should be home soon. 

*

She hears him unlock the door, and enter their apartment, his footsteps heavy. He stops outside their room, as if preparing himself to face her. She is ready, a thousand  _ I’m sorry’s  _ in her throat if he’ll hear them. The door knob twists and her heart beats faster, louder, until its the only thing she can hear. 

Then his shadow is gone from under the door, and his footsteps retreat away from their room. Away from  _ her.  _ A minute later, she hears the shower running. Her shoulders slump.

The shower turns off, but he doesn’t come to bed.

She curls up under the blanket, hugging her knees to her chest as she tries to will away the dread forming in her stomach. Couples sleep in different beds all the time right? This was normal, this would pass. It was just a temporary situation. 

Her breath catches in her throat. 

Maybe he’ll walk in, and she’ll apologize, and then curl up in his arms, safe and warm. She waits with bated breath, hanging onto that thread of hope. 

She keeps on waiting, her fingers working the engagement ring on her finger anxiously. 

He never comes. 

Finally, a sob wretches its way up her throat, and Katie cries into his pillow. 

  
  


*

The next day she’s sent on a mission. Nothing big, just a routine check-up on one of their intergalactic space stations. Allura asks if she wants back up, and Katie is grateful she doesn’t press. Normally Lance would accompany her on these missions, but given where they stand lately… well she didn’t want to bother him. 

Instead she asks Allura not to tell Lance about the mission, and the princess—bless her—agreed without further question. 

Everything was going just as it was supposed to, until she notices the pirate ships. Katie knows she should call for backup, but she doesn’t. Instead, she goes full speed ahead, guns ablaze. 

She knows its a lost cause, it was one from the start, but she still refuses to call for help. Because then they’ll call Lance, and she doesn’t want another reason for him to be mad at her. 

Her head gets slammed into her control board, and she’s pretty sure her shoulder is dislocated from the crate that slammed into her earlier. Who the hell forgets to tie down the crates? 

Ignoring the pain —she probably deserves worse—she steels herself for battle, her blasters at the ready. Three more pirate cruisers appear, blocking her escape. 

She grits her teeth and pushes forward, not stopping until she's exhausted and all the pirate ships are nothing but scrap pieces. Groggily, she sets course for earth, before giving in to the darkness. 

*

When she wakes up, she’s in the med bay. Coran and Allura are watching her, and the princess smiles at her. 

“You had us worried there for a second. When your jet landed, but you didn’t come out… well we feared the worst.” 

“I deserved it,” she mumbles, ignoring Allura’s pitying glance. She sits up gingerly, wincing as a sharp pain laced through her back. “Am I cleared?” 

“Number five, I must insist you stay in bed rest until I get the results of your—” 

“Am I cleared?” she repeats sharply. 

“Yes.” Coran reluctantly sighs. “You are cleared to leave.” 

“Perfect.” She stands, noticing the brace on her knee. When she goes to remove it, Allura shakes her head. 

“I would advise against that Katie. Shiro himself put that on, and I can’t see him being too happy about you taking it off.” 

Katie stops, and stands back up, walking out of the medbay without a second glance back. 

*

She’s sitting on their bed, the lights off, when he finally comes. She hears the door creak open, and a beam of light from the living room illuminates her feet. 

His feet enter her field of view, and he knees before her, his eyes filled with concern. 

With a tenderness that wretches at her heart, Lance tilts her head up and into the light, the crease in his brow deepening as he traces the new bruises and scabs along her face. 

Katie bit her lip, and tries to focus on anything other than  _ him _ . Instead she moves away from him, from his  _ touch _ , and wraps her arms around her bare shoulders. She knows he can probably see the bandages peeking out from her tank top, and the brace Shiro insisted she wear on her knee. 

“I, uh—” Lance starts, clearing his throat. “I heard what happened from Keith.” 

She avoids his gaze, her ears picking up on the masked anger in his voice. When she stays silent, he continues. 

“He said you were in pretty bad shape, but when I got to the medbay, Coran said you went home.” His voice was getting louder. “I didn’t know what to think! I didn’t even know you were going on a mission today!” 

“I know.” She whispers, keeping her eyes downcast. “I’m sorry.” 

Lance kneels before her, his hands resting gently on her knees. “What happened?” 

“I was just securing the base, making sure everything was in order. When I got there, it was an ambush. Pirates.” 

Lance stiffens at the mention of pirates. They both had experience with the ruthless scavengers of the galaxy. When he finally speaks, it's so quiet she doesn’t hear him. 

“What?” 

She looks up, his eyes a dangerous blue. “I said, why didn’t you call for backup?” 

“I did,” she protests weakly. It was a lie, but Lance didn’t need to know that. 

He stands abruptly, running his hands through his hair. “No, you didn’t. I saw the report Katie. No message was sent from your helmet.” 

Katie shrugs. “I must have forgotten to click send.” 

“Bullshit.” 

“You should have asked for help!” Lance shouts, making her feel worse than she already does. “What were you thinking, going to pirate territory alone?” 

She flinches at his tone, willing the tears back. “I’m fine,” she says firmly. “There's nothing to worry about.” 

“God, you are so infuriating!” Lance throws his arms in the air. “Why can’t you just listen to protocol for once in your life?” 

“You’re one to talk Mr. Let's-jump-into-every-mission-without-a-plan!” She yells back mockingly. At his hurt expression, her anger fades into guilt. “I—I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight.” 

Lance let out a sigh. “Me too.” 

Hope blooms in Katie’s chest, and she opens her mouth to apologize for before, for everything. 

He cuts her off, grabbing his jacket. “I’m going out.” 

Fury crackles through her system anew, and she stands, ignoring the pain in her leg. “Don’t walk away from me Lance Mcclain! Hear me out! Let me apologize! Don’t run away from this.” The door closed with a soft click. “Please,” she whispers to an empty room before collapsing onto the bed. 

Curling up on her side of the now-too-big bed, Katie let herself cry for the second time that week. 

She doesn’t know how long she lay there, but when she finally felt like she couldn’t cry anymore, it was dark outside. She listens for his footsteps, for any sign that he was in the house, but could find none. Her muscles felt stiff from her prolonged position, but she didn’t feel like moving and stretching. 

God she was an idiot. A quiznacking idiot who ruined one of the best things in her life. Lance probably wouldn’t want to see her when he got home. She should leave, stay at Matts until they figure out what to do next. 

Slowly she uncurls herself grabbing a suitcase from the closet, and begins to pack. She’s almost done when she hears Lance come home. This time goes straight to their room, the door opening with a creak. 

“Katie?” The light from the living room was illuminating his silhouette, and he looks angelic. “What are you doing?”

She meets his eyes, a familiar blue. “I—” she clears her throat. “I’m packing.” 

Lance doesn’t move from the doorway, his expression was unreadable. 

“I mean, it is your house after all, and I assume you want to sleep in your own bed, so I’ll be gone by the morning.” She stood, zipping up her suitcase. Her fingers automatically move to fiddle with her ring, the cool metal a familiar sensation. She swallows her sob and slid the ring off. “I—I guess you’ll be wanting this back then.” 

She holds out the ring to him, her arm trembling. Lance hesitates before stepping closer. He reaches out and grabs the ring, his fingers gently brushing her palm. 

She holds back a cry. It was really over now. 

“Katie?” 

She looks back at Lance. What more could he have to say to her? 

Clearing his throat, Lance kneels on one knee, extending the ring to her. “Will you marry me?” 

Her sob breaks free, and there are tears falling down her cheeks as she nods furiously. 

Comforting metal slides onto her finger once again, and she is enveloped in a powerful embrace. 

“I’m sorry—”

“I love you—” 

“I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t leave me—”

“ _ Never _ —”

They cling to each other, a mess of apologies and promises spilling from their throats. She knows she must look horrible, but she doesn’t care. Lance is here, with her, warm and solid and  _ real.  _

And he still loves her. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> a penny for your thoughts?


End file.
